THE NEWS CENTER

MICHIGAN HOUSE TO ‘CONNECT THE DOTS’ WITH 5X5 NIGHT INNOVATION COMPETITION DURING NORTH AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL AUTO SHOW

DETROIT, December 8, 2015 — While the cities in Michigan may appear as dots on a map, they are much, much more. Michigan House, an effort spearheaded by Creative Many Michigan, the statewide organization for the arts, culture and creative and design industries, and 5X5 Night, the innovation pitch competition based in Grand Rapids, today announced Connect the Dots, a one-night, experimental grant program that will award $5,000 to anyone in Michigan with an idea that can bring the state’s network of cities and cultures together.

Connect the Dots will be held January 13, 2016, at Michigan House: Detroit, 601 W. Fort St., in downtown Detroit, during the North American International Auto Show. The pitch competition, hosted by Michigan House and 5x5 Night, will find new, creative ways to make real, intentional connections between the Michigan’s cities. Anyone can submit an idea for consideration to www.5x5night.com.

Michigan House wants to hear ideas for:
- Hospitality programs that span cities
- Lowering barriers to hop around the state for a night on the town
- Soft-landings for businesses that want to make new connections in another city
- Statewide music, film or art festivals

“The dots on the map aren’t just cities, they’re pockets of people with identities and cultures that are individually distinct, but together they create Michigan, a vibrant and exciting place to live and work,” said Joe Voss, Creative Many's Director of Strategic Partnerships. “Michigan House shows off a landscape of creativity and interconnectedness in our state, and 5x5 Night has an impeccable record as an idea-generator. Together we can find and fund some creative ideas that fully embrace the way our state works and plays together.”

5X5 Night was created in 2011 to create a critical mass of new ideas in Grand Rapids, Mich. Among its most successful include the Grandwich competition and My Great Lake. The program will follow the successful format of 5x5 Night in Grand Rapids: up to five people, selected online by a popular vote, will serve as finalists in the one-night competition. Finalists will have up to five minutes to present a summary of their ideas with five slides. Five judges will then decide which idea (or ideas) win. Grants will be given from a total prize pot of $5,000.

“Michigan often struggles with thinking as a statewide unit. 5x5 Night is an event to stimulate idea sharing and connection building. Any type of idea can be submitted, from art projects to new businesses to events, the evening is designed to promote idea sharing from many disciplines,” said Paul Moore, communications director at Start Garden. “Michigan has shown immense power to create transformative products, services and events, and we are looking for that next idea, of any size, that will have big potential impact to bring our state together.”

Ideas will be judged by a panel of state and city officials who will award the $5,000 grant to the winner at the end of the night. Five ideas will be chosen to be present at Michigan House during the North American International Auto Show.

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About Creative Many Michigan
Creative Many Michigan, formerly ArtServe Michigan, is the statewide organization focused on the mission to develop creative people, creative places and the creative economy for a competitive Michigan through research, advocacy, professional practice, funding and communications..Creative Many’s offices are located at TechTown Detroit, The Runway in downtown Lansing and in downtown Grand Rapids. For more information, visit creativemany.org.